Revenge of the Mummy
Revenge of the Mummy, officially named Revenge of the Mummy: The Ride, is an enclosed roller coaster located at Universal Studios Florida, Universal Studios Hollywood, and Universal Studios Singapore. It is themed to The Mummy film franchise, and the ride features linear induction motors that launch riders to a maximum speed of in a matter of seconds. The Florida and Singapore locations have the same track layout, although each location offers a slightly different virtual experience. Manufactured by Premier Rides, the attractions feature track switches installed by Dynamic Structures. Universal Creative and ITEC Entertainment Corporation created the theme at each location, with Adirondack Studios responsible for several of the unique elements implemented at the Singapore location.
History
In 2002, Universal Parks & Resorts began planning the design of a dark ride based on the popular Mummy movie franchise. For construction to begin, Universal Studios Florida closed Kongfrontation on September 8, 2002, and Universal Studios Hollywood closed E.T. Adventure on March 14, 2003. On May 21, 2004, Revenge of the Mummy opened at Universal Studios Florida. The installation at Universal Studios Hollywood opened a month later on June 25, 2004.In December 2008, Resorts World Sentosa, which now encompasses Universal Studios Singapore, announced a Revenge of the Mummy ride would be built at the park, due to open in 2010. In contrast to the previous two installations, the one at Universal Studios Singapore was cheaper, reportedly costing only US$20 million instead of US$90 million. The ride officially opened on March 18, 2010.
Cast
- Brendan Fraser as Himself/Rick O'Connell
- Arnold Vosloo as Imhotep
- Michael Lawson as Reggie
- Rachel Weisz as Evelyn O'Connell
- The Rock as The Scorpion King
- Robert Steinman Elden as John Shippman
- Stephen Sommers as Himself
- Zelda Rubinstein as Herself
Universal Studios Florida
The six-story, building housing the roller coaster was previously home to one of Universal's landmark attractions, Kongfrontation. Homages to the Kong attraction can be found in several areas within Revenge of the Mummy, including a golden statue of King Kong in the second scene of the ride and props in "Sahara Traders" placing Carl Denham in the role of the Museum of Antiquities curator wanting to put Imhotep the Living Mummy on display as the "Ninth Wonder of the World". The building was constructed of slabs, which at the time, were the largest of their kind ever used. Track pieces from Kongfrontation were built into the building during construction and parts of the track still remain within the building. In order to compensate for space, part of the building was excavated several feet deep for the ride's climactic drop.
Queue and pre-show
Guests enter the ride through a towering Museum of Antiquities facade, browsing through the film setup of a fictional sequel titled Revenge of the Mummy. Some of the film's props, molds, and concept drawings are on display inside. A pre-ride video plays in the outer line queue explaining how the original Mummy film was made, emphasizing the film's fictional curse that was seemingly proven to be real while filming, with various accidents and plagues striking the cast and crew. Brendan Fraser remains skeptical, however, and refuses to wear the medjai symbol that the crew and locals are convinced will protect them from the curse. Fraser steals crew member Reggie's medjai necklace and demands a coffee – he was previously denied for not wearing the medjai symbol. Reggie injures himself in a freak accident later in the video and is later seen in the background getting trapped inside a sarcophagus prop. The inside queue morphs into a 1940s archaeological dig inside an Egyptian tomb, leading to a set of stairs that guests climb to the second floor to board the ride.Summary
As the ride begins, the mine carts move into another room inside Imhotep's tomb, where Reggie suddenly appears partially mummified and warns riders: "Are you insane?! Get out of here! The curse is real; this whole place is a trap! He's after your souls!" Before Reggie can finish, Imhotep comes out of a sarcophagus, prompting Reggie to desperately instruct the riders, "Look for the medjai symbol. It's your only hope!", but Imhotep cuts him off shouting "Silence!", sucking out Reggie's soul. He reminds riders, "With your souls, I shall rule for all eternity!"The train moves into a second room and comes to a stop. Imhotep appears from the sand by a tomb mural directly in front of riders and ominously states, "Serve me and savor riches beyond measure". Light appears across the room, illuminating treasure on both sides of riders. Imhotep sternly continues, "or refuse, and savor a more bitter treasure." Armed soldier mummies suddenly appear guarding the treasure as he utters an Egyptian curse: "Akudei makrraken ra!". The train then quickly moves into another room and stops abruptly at a wall. Digitally-projected scarab beetles begin to pour out and cover the wall with screeching sound effects, which is quickly followed by the train launching backward, dropping into another room where it stops again.
Imhotep reappears digitally-projected on a screen above the riders moving with the train as it rotates 180 degrees. Imhotep warns: "Not even the medjai can save you now. There is no escape. Your end shall be my beginning! Behold your fate. Will this be your destiny?" The train accelerates through the LIM launch catapulting riders up to while Imhotep shouts, "Your souls are mine!" The train shoots through a digital projection of Imhotep's mouth that is projected onto a fog display, followed by a series of drops, twists, and turns, while speeding past other digital projections of mummies and fire.
The car comes to a stop in a loading station, seemingly indicating the end of the ride. A shadowy female ride attendant appears behind a glassed control booth and begins to thank riders, but Imhotep appears, devouring her soul as the glass breaks sending water droplets onto riders. He shouts "Prepare to forfeit your souls!” and laughs as the ceiling is engulfed in fire. He continues shouting, “Death is only the beginning!" The train enters the last launch, dropping down – the longest drop in the ride – and speeding along a winding course. A medjai symbol appears, and as the train passes through, Imhotep can be heard screaming "NO!"
Riders pass through a final tunnel of flickering lights and encounter a screen, where a video with Brendan Fraser tells riders, "Hey, welcome back! Hope you enjoyed yourself. I would have enjoyed this interview a lot more if I had gotten my cup of coffee!", yelling toward the end of his statement. A cape passes over the screen, and then Imhotep's arm can be seen handing Fraser a cup of coffee. His facial expression turns to panic and horror, and he falls back in his chair screaming as the screen fades to black. The sound of Imhotep roaring over Fraser's screams is heard as the train returns to the station.
Universal Studios Hollywood
The ride opened on June 25, 2004. The roller coaster has a height restriction of 48 inches. Revenge of the Mummy uses linear induction motors, a technology used to launch riders. The roller coaster lasts approximately 2 minutes and is housed in the building of the former attraction, the E.T. Adventure.The ride features warrior mummies, treasures and tombs, a sudden launch, a scarab beetle attack, forwards and backwards motion and surround sound speakers inside the vehicles. Hollywood's coaster was built in the former E.T. Adventure building. Some support beams for the coaster were built by digging downward to accommodate space. Actual props from the film series such as some warrior mummies, treasures, and The Book of the Dead, can be found in this incarnation.
Queue and pre-show
Set in 1944, the queue provides riders with a brief backstory of Imhotep and the ride in general. Once guests enter the building's corridor in to the ride, they first see a hole which air will blast out of every 10 to 15 seconds When guest move further in, the Book of the Dead is seen. A peep hole is also seen, fenced up by wires, containing a mummified man in his sarcophagus and other mummified remains of people whom Imhotep may have sucked their souls out earlier. The man's mummy is surrounded by carnivorous scarab beetles. When guests move deeper into the building, they find an abandoned archaeological dig which is actually Imhotep's burial chamber. Looking up ahead in a giant mirror is a pictogram of Imhotep grinning at the guest followed by another pictogram of the guest being chased by Imhotep's army of mummy soldiers. Further in, riders find an archaeological dig set in a backdrop of 1944. The queue ends in an Ancient Egyptian themed loading platform, complete with hieroglyphs and a large statue of a scarab beetle, in which the riders board mine cart-type coasters.Summary
As the ride begins, riders enter a dark tomb lit with dark green and red fluorescent lights, with a mummy coming to life to the left and hissing at riders. From above, Omid Djalili's character the Warden Gad Hassan, from The Mummy film, warns guests "Run for your lives! The curse is real! Imhotep lives!" He screams as scarab beetles engulf him. The mine car continues through to a dark chamber, as drops of water fall on guests, and mummies stretch their arms out from each side of the cart while mummified arms appear from the ceiling, trying to grab riders.The mine car slowly continues into the treasure room, filled with large amounts of golden yellow light, Egyptian hieroglyphs covering the walls, and two gigantic statues of Anubis stationed next to a projector screen, where Imhotep appears from sand in a mural and tells guests, "Serve me and savor the riches of eternal life." The mine car makes a sharp turn as the yellow room quickly turns a dark shade of green, Imhotep continues his monologue... "And join us in eternal death." The mine car moves into the grand gallery as an animatronic Imhotep continues to speak a curse in Egyptian language "Akum ra, akum de," before exclaiming "Now your souls belong to me... forever!" At the same time, the grand gallery starts to collapse after Imohtep used the powerful curse from the Scroll of Osiris. A wall behind him collapses, forming an eclipse as four more mummy warriors drop down from each side of the track, holding cutlasses in their hands.
The car is then launched at a high speed into darkness as the ride photo is taken. The surround sound speakers in the mine cart provide riders with an added dimension of entertainment, as the sound score begins. The ride continues for 56 seconds in darkness, going around high banked turns and small drops. Various images of mummy warriors and Imhotep are illuminated with ultraviolet lighting as the car twists and turns. The mine car makes a sharp uphill movement and veers left, where the track viciously brakes in a corner. The second launch is located in this area. Scarab beetles appear on the walls in front of the car with help of projectors, as the added special effects of air jets at riders' feet and a spray of water from above create the illusion of the vehicle being overrun by the bugs. As a screaming sound effect is heard, the car launches backwards into the underworld as Imhotep's laugh plays on the soundtrack. The vehicle makes a few more twists and turns, while more images of Imhotep and the mummy warriors are lit up as it continues backwards and Imhotep reminds riders "There's no place to hide! Your souls are mine!"
The car slows suddenly under the last illuminated painting of Imhotep's outstretched grasp and moves slowly into another room. A turntable moves the car into a forward-facing position as fog machines and strobe lighting fill the blackened room. As the car faces forward once again, Imhotep appears as a projected image and screams "No!" at riders before vanishing. There is a second of uncertain silence before a floodlight hits riders, and as a wall lifts up into the ceiling to allow the car to pass through, a second strobe light blinds guests. The ride enters the loading platform.